It doesn't help China is well on their way to becoming the worlds largest oil consumer, above the United States. I think the state of the wars and unrest in the middle east and Africa have more to do with the prices than anything else.
China happily deals with whoever is in power to buy oil. The USA tends to only work with standing governments after they stop committing genocide. China is simply turning a blind eye to atrocities, so they get the oil and we get shortages and higher prices every time some rebels, or a standing government, goes murder crazy, forcing the UN to get involved.
Is this the only influence? Of course not, but I think it is the main driver as long as oil stays in US dollars. If it moves to a different currency, we'll be in for a horror show, as so far we've been insulated from inflation causing price increases for oil. Once that changes, it'll get scary here very quickly.
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